Progress update #7
Welcome to the seventh instalment of my regular update series where I review what does and doesn't work on the journey to type 2 diabetes remission.
Million step challenge
Just as my blister problems had mostly cleared up, I've been struggling with peroneal tendonitis (swollen tendons on the outside of the foot). It was very rainy on Tuesday when I'd planned to walk into Bolton to visit the Reebok and Norman Walsh exhibition at Bolton Museum, so I went in some waterproof walking boots that I haven't used on a long walk before. Walking 5.5 miles in them left me limping the next day, and it took a couple of days of rest to clear it up. I'm now ready and itching to get back to my 14,000 steps per day. Weight training at the gym has been a great way to exercise while resting my feet. I've managed to do some cardio on the exercise bike which has counted towards my step count.
Some helpful physiotherapy exercises for recovering from tendonitis.
Despite the setbacks, I've still managed to clock up 377,000 steps before the end of July which is the third-way point so I'm still ahead of schedule. I'd like to get to 450,000 by the end of next week to give me a good chance of making the half-way mark early.
Blood tests
I got my Thriva blood test results back and I'm happy that I'm in safe ranges for cholesterol and other things. Triglyceride/HDL ratio is considered to be the best biomarker for cardiovascular disease (not LDL or total cholesterol levels). My triglyceride/HDL ratio is 0.9 which is good (less than 1 is considered optimal). This biomarker also indicates levels of insulin resistance (over 3 suggests insulin resistance).
My LDL cholesterol level is on the low end of what is considered high at 3.1 mmol/L (3.0-4.9 is considered high). Many people live to very old age with high LDL cholesterol levels so I'm not too worried about this level. I've also got a high Apolipoprotein B at 1.11 g/L (1-1.3 is considered high) so I need to investigate what this means.
The good news is that I'm confident I don't have a cholesterol problem that requires medication. I'm hoping to do a more in-depth video on cholesterol shortly.
Another good test result was hs-CRP which indicates levels of inflammation are in the satisfactory range at 0.81 mg/L (below 1.0 is considered low risk). Around 0.3 mg/L is considered more optimal so I'm hoping this will improve but this shows that I'm heading in the right direction.
BDNF boosting strategy
Next week, I'm going to focus on boosting BDNF. There are a lot of small changes to try to remember. I'm hoping this will help me break the 5.7 mmol/L 7-day average plateau.
New noodles
I found some super-low-carb noodles that I'd never heard about before. Shirataki noodles are made from konjac root (no, not the brandy - it's Southeast Asian elephant yam root). I made the first ramen I've had in a long time and they were so good I had them with a chicken curry as well.
Blood glucose is on target but could do with some improvement
Another week in the normal range (3.9–7.8 mmol/L). I’ve got my 7-day average back down to 5.7 mmol/L and then my two day break from walking threw me back up to 6.0 mmol/L which is frustrating.
My average daily net carbs has gone up from 62g to 72 this week - a contributor to this has been too much wine. I need to focus on trying to keep this under 60g and ideally around 50g per day.
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